This invention generally relates to a refrigerated, packaged meal which includes a baked flour-containing or grain-based component. More particularly, the invention relates to meal components packaged together in a kit-like collection wherein at least some of the components will be assembled by the user after the kit or package is opened to remove these contents from the package. Baked flour-containing components such as baked dough components are incorporated which exhibit resistance to external, environmental or ambient moisture and texture degradation during storage under refrigeration while within a hermetically sealed, gas-flushed package having anti-fogging features.
Various food packages are known that contain food in a form which is visible to the purchasing consumer. Included are packaged food products which require a minimum amount of consumer preparation and are quick to assemble into a snack or meal which combines a variety of tastes into one unit, such as sandwiches which incorporate a baked grain-based component and other component(s) providing a source of meat or dairy protein, such as carved, cubed, pattied, stuffed, extruded, shredded or sliced meats, cheeses, spreads and the like. One such type of package has a rigid base tray having food-receiving compartments and a transparent flexible film cover which hermetically seals the compartments. A particular example in this regard is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,701, which is incorporated by reference hereinto.
Typically, these types of products are intended to be sold in retail facilities under customary refrigerated conditions. This means that all of the components within the sealed package or kit must be suitable for being refrigerated for extended time periods during storage, transportation, retail display and temporary refrigerated storage by the consumer. This requirement can be particularly problematic for any baked dough or grain-based component.
In the past, these types of sealed-package refrigerated products typically incorporate baked grain or dough components which normally have substantially low moisture levels. These tend to be in the nature of crackers or similar low-moisture types of products. Once a baked component, such as a bread or a roll, is held under refrigerated conditions for several days or more, it tends to undergo retrogradation and stale out, typically toughening or becoming leathery or dry and developing off odors and flavors. Chewing becomes more difficult, and the baked product loses some of its chewability. In addition, in packaged refrigerated meals of the type discussed herein, moisture can be picked up by the baked dough component, especially along its lower portions, even while its top portions dry out or stale.
Generally speaking, refrigeration at non-freezing temperatures negatively impacts upon the taste of a baked grain or flour product, such as a bread component in the general form of a roll. While freezing baked dough products for reasonable lengths of time actually maintains adequate freshness, refrigeration at above-freezing temperatures of typical baked grain or dough products or breads or rolls is detrimental to the desired moisture, flavor, aroma, firmness and texture of that product.
Products of the type discussed herein incorporate components that must be kept refrigerated and should not be frozen. A suitable approach for maintaining the proper freshness and taste requires that each component, both individually and when packaged with other components, be capable of storage under such refrigerated conditions without any detrimental effects. In this regard, consideration is to be given to migration of moisture, aromas and flavors among the various components, as well as any other negative impact of refrigeration upon the individual components due to non-freezing refrigerated conditions for extended time periods of several weeks.